Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a control apparatus for an autonomous navigating utility vehicle that autonomously navigates and performs lawn mowing and/or other tasks in a working area.
Description of Related Art
Control apparatuses are known that control an autonomously navigating utility vehicle equipped with electric motors and a battery so as to perform a task while autonomously traveling in a working area delineated by a boundary wire as taught by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2013-164742, for example. When the battery requires charging, the control apparatus described in this reference returns the utility vehicle to a charging station by driving it along the boundary wire on the basis of detection values from magnetic sensors.
However, the driving of the utility vehicle along the boundary wire by the control apparatus described in the reference tends to produce ruts because frequency of passage along the same paths is high. Moreover, a path to a charging station becomes long, making it difficult to achieve efficient return operation of the utility vehicle.